These Air Pistols Look Like Weapons from Star Wars

Competitive target shooting is as old as shooting weapons, from bows to laser pistols. But air pistols went through impressive evolution in the past few decades, thanks to manufacturers putting amazingly futuristic arms into the hands of competitors. Some of them look like Han Solo should be shooting.

The 10 Metre Air Pistol is one of the most popular Olympic shooting events, in which women and men shoot with 4.5 mm (or .177) caliber pneumatic pistols at a distance of 10 metres (11 yards). The most interesting thing is that air pistols are not just practically recoilless and vibration free, but also highly customisable to the shooters' needs.

Since precision shooters can choose a wide variety of spring operated, gas spring-operated, pneumatic or pre-charged pneumatic air guns, the following list is far from complete; but hopefully provides a good overview of recently available arms made by the most popular manufacturers.

Record LP 1

A German spring-piston air pistol that was common during the first decades of the sport.